The best teams in any league often consist of star players, quality coaches, and good depth. As the Green Bay Packers gear up for the 2025 season, they have all of the ingredients of being one of the best teams in the NFL. They have star players in Pro Bowler Josh Jacobs and All-Pro Xavier McKinney. The coaching staff, led by Matt LaFleur, is very good. The roster is young and deep. But what will separate the Packers from being a good team to one of the best teams is the underrated role players who aren’t getting enough love.
All of the Packers’ underrated players play a massive role in the team’s success. This group of players doesn’t have the biggest names, nor are they the highest paid. They don’t have the accolades that some of their peers have. While they all have different journeys with the Packers, the one thing they all have in common is that none of them ever gets enough praise from the fanbase.
Romeo Doubs
The fourth-year wideout heads into his final season under contract with the Packers. For whatever reason, the fourth-year wideout has been repeatedly involved in potential trade ideas throughout the off-season. While he has had some rocky moments as a member of the Packers, most notably being disgruntled by his role in the offense and skipping practice, he has been one of the Packers’ most reliable and consistent offensive weapons.
Doubs has performed fairly well over his three years as a Packer. The former fourth-round pick has been a starter for all three of his professional seasons. Statistically, 2023 was his best season. He played almost 300 more snaps than the next closest Packers’ wide receiver. He also caught eight touchdowns, which not only led the team, but also was the most of any wide receiver drafted in the 2022 class. Doubs hasn’t been the flashiest or most explosive, but the Packers know exactly what they’re getting from him every single week.
While Doubs’ performance in 2024 wasn’t quite as strong, it was still respectable. Per a couple of different metrics, his performance was solid. His PFF Grade was 70.0 (average is 60.0), which is the same score as both Jayden Reed and Christian Watson, yet Doubs seems to receive the least amount of love. Additionally, his end-of-season grade from Packer Report was +3.55, which was the second-highest score amongst Packers’ wide receivers.
Doubs might not be “WR1.” He probably won’t score any 70-yard touchdowns or have 1,000 yards receiving. He may finish 2025 with only 650 yards receiving. All that said, his impact on the field is valuable to the Green Bay Packers offense. He’s also proven to be the leader of the wide receiver room, taking rookie Matthew Golden under his wing. Any team in the NFL would value having a player like Romeo Doubs on it.
Sean Rhyan
The former third-round pick didn’t exactly make the best impression as a rookie. Rhyan came in out of shape and served a suspension for using a performance-enhancing substance. Not exactly how anyone would want to start their professional career. Fast forward to 2025, and coming off his first season as a full-time starter, Rhyan has turned things around. He has become one of the more consistent and reliable offensive linemen on the Packers’ roster.
After playing only one snap as a rookie, Rhyan logged almost 1,000 snaps a season ago. His performance received an overall grade of 62.0 from PFF. While that number might not “wow” anyone, it’s better than what meets the eye. One piece of the overall grade is his pass block grade. Rhyan received a 69.4. For context, two of the top three overall graded guards across the NFL had pass block grades of 68.0 and 70.7. Rhyan’s score is right on par with some of the league’s best.
Using Packer Report’s grading method, Rhyan scored a +2.75, which was the third-highest grade amongst Packers’ offensive linemen. The man next to him on the offensive line, Josh Myers, received a score of -2.70. That’s a massive difference. Rhyan’s score in 2023 was only +0.05. His improvement in score from 2023 to 2024 was the second-largest improvement of all offensive players.
Rhyan might not have been ready for the NFL as a rookie, but he’s grown into being a quality NFL starter. When watching a game, Rhyan is one of the least talked-about offensive linemen. Nothing he does is flashy or will “jump off the screen,” but the more he plays, the better he has gotten. Rhyan’s performance deserves a lot more love, considering he is the lowest-paid and least talked-about player starting on the Packers’ offensive line. At the end of each day, he gets the job done. It’s time to recognize that.
Keisean Nixon
When the Packers signed Nixon as a free agent during the 2022 offseason, the expectation was for him to be primarily a special-teams player. In his first year with the team, he became the team’s primary return specialist while only playing sparingly on defense. In his second year with the team, the Packers wanted Nixon to contribute even more on defense. Last season, Nixon became arguably the Packers’ top cornerback. As time has passed, Nixon has accepted every role the team has asked of him and exceeded all expectations.
When Nixon first started in Green Bay, he primarily trained as a slot cornerback. His performance at this position was iffy. Once Jeff Hafley moved him to the boundary, Nixon’s play took a step forward. Despite not training at all as a boundary cornerback, Nixon earned a PFF grade of 64.5 in 2024, which was good for 87th of 222 qualified cornerbacks. His 6 pass breakups were good for 32nd in the entire league.
Nixon’s end-of-season grade from Packer Report was +0.00. No, the grade isn’t necessarily positive, but that also means Nixon wasn’t a negative. The Packers’ corners as a whole unit last year scored -2.60. Eric Stokes received a score of -3.75. Nixon scored +2.60 points above the team average and +3.75 points higher than Stokes. Not bad for a guy who barely trained at the position.
All off-season, many were begging the Packers to add players to the cornerback room. Once the Packers released Alexander, those voices got even louder. Very few acknowledged the value that Nixon brings to the cornerback group. Nixon has never missed a game as a Packer. He plays every role asked of him. Now Nixon wants to be the Packers’ “CB1.” He has the swagger and mindset to fill that role. He might not be the lockdown corner that fans want, but he’s certainly capable of getting the job done.
